At a media conference, prayer service and public hearing, faith community plans to make its voice heard

SAN FRANCISCO — Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) and local faith leaders will be participating in multiple events on Wednesday, February 28 to make their opposition to the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan heard when the EPA comes to town for an all day “listening session.”

In the wake of EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s recent comments that the Bible gives us the “responsibility” to “harvest” natural resources like coal and oil, faith leaders will point out that solar and wind are also God-given resources, and they do not cause harm to human lungs or our climate.

“Repealing the Clean Power Plan is completely misguided and morally wrong,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot Guy, president of IPL. “Based on the Trump administration’s own research, this plan to clean up the nation’s most polluting power plants will save thousands of lives a year. This is a matter of justice for those breathing the toxic air near coal-fired power plants, as well for those who are most vulnerable to climate impacts.

The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California will represent IPL at the press conference on the steps of City Hall, and then he, Rev. Hendershot Guy, and other faith leaders will hold “Prayers for Clean Energy and a Safe Climate” in Civic Center Plaza at 12:45. Other IPL clergy, staff, and local people of faith will be speaking at the hearing to oppose the proposal.

WHO:

The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California

Rev. Susan Hendershot Guy, President of IPL

Rev. Ambrose Carroll, Green the Church

Fr. John Coleman, St. Ignatius, San Francisco

WHAT:

Rally and Press Conference in support of Clean Power Plan

Prayers for Clean Energy and a Safe Climate

Public Comment in Opposition to Proposed Repeal of Clean Power Plan

WHEN:

Press Conference: 11:00 am

Prayer Service: 12:45 pm – 1:00 pm

Public Comment: 8:30 am – 7:30 pm

WHERE:

Press Conference on steps of City Hall

Prayer Service at Civic Center Plaza, under white flag that reads “An Appeal to Heaven”

EPA Listening Session at Koret Auditorium in basement of SF Main Library at 30 Grove Street (across from City Hall)

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Interfaith Power & Light is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in congregations through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

Letter signed by 300 clergy and faith leaders delivered to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members in advance of Pruitt hearing 1/30

Washington – Today, Interfaith Power & Light delivered a letter signed by 300 faith leaders from across the nation to members of the Senate Environment and Pubic Works Committee, which has oversight of the EPA and has scheduled Administrator Scott Pruitt to appear at a hearing tomorrow.

IPL Government Affairs Representative Rev. Richard Cizik will be available for a photo opportunity of the letter delivery with Senator Carper at 5:00 pm TODAY, Jan 29, at the Senator’s office.

The letter reads, in part: “Administrator Pruitt has repeatedly attempted to block, weaken, or delay environmental protections opposed by industry, and reduced EPA’s capacity to protect our air and water….As people of faith, we believe our natural environment is God’s sacred Creation, and we also believe we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable among us. It is our poor and elderly neighbors, our children, those with asthma or other health challenges, who suffer most from smog, pollution, and climate change…Therefore our consciences do not permit us to remain silent in the face of these threats to our natural resources and human health.”

Rev. Susan Hendershot Guy, former executive director of Iowa IPL, steps into national position as founder, The Rev. Sally Bingham, retires

SAN FRANCISCO — Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) announced that Rev. Susan Hendershot Guy will serve as its new president, ending a year-long search for the successor to founding president The Rev. Sally Bingham, who is retiring after leading the organization for 18 years.

“I am excited to continue to grow this vital organization and its critical mission to mobilize a religious response to global warming and to act as good stewards of our planet for future generations,” said Rev. Hendershot Guy, a minister ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) tradition, who has led this work in Iowa for seven years. “I deeply respect the work of Rev. Bingham and hope to build on the solid foundation she created. The need for people of faith to lead the movement to protect Creation has never been greater.”

President Emeritus Rev. Bingham will remain involved on IPL’s board of directors. “It is with delight and my strong support that I leave IPL not only with a strong board of directors, but also in the capable hands of Rev. Hendershot Guy who will carry IPL well into the 21st Century,” said Rev. Bingham.

IPL has an unparalleled track record of educating millions of “people in the pews” about the call to care for Creation and mobilizing them to action, achieving clean energy policy wins from the local to international level. Mobilizing people of faith to be advocates for climate protection is more important than ever, as the Trump administration continues its reckless attempts to roll back urgently needed climate policies. Maintaining the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, and keeping congregations all over the U.S. moving forward with emissions reductions to show that “We are Still In” the Paris Accord are important priorities for IPL. Rev. Susan Hendershot Guy will be speaking in support of the Clean Power Plan at the upcoming hearing in San Francisco.

“Rev. Hendershot Guy will bring a valuable new perspective to our San Francisco-based team from her experience leading one of our successful Midwest affiliates,” said Doug Linney, chairman of the board of directors, which conducted the nationwide search for the new president. “I am more confident than ever in our stability, strength, and the urgency of our mission. I believe we are in a great position for growth and innovation,” Linney continued.

Rev. Hendershot Guy will step into her new position this month. She will lead IPL from its national headquarters in San Francisco.

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Interfaith Power & Light is mobilizing a religious response to global warming in congregations through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

Interfaith Power & Light along with faith communities across the nation are demanding the U.S. stay in the Paris Agreement.

Today, almost 6000 people of faith, and members and supporters of Interfaith Power & Light, sent a letter to President Trump and Ivanka Trump demanding that the United States stay in the Paris Agreement.

“Our faith compels us to protect Creation, love our neighbor, and create a better world for our children. We will do all we can in our homes, our houses of worship, and our communities to meet the goals of the Paris agreement. And then we’ll help our neighbors do the same.” Stated the letter to the President.

Faith communities across the nation are speaking up to say that we want the U.S. to stay in the Paris Agreement. We believe that the Paris Agreement is vital to protecting Creation and vulnerable communities around the world. Interfaith Power & Light’s petition with almost 6000 names show that people of faith are doing their part to combat climate change and are asking that our government do its part.

Interfaith Power & Light has over 20,000 member congregations and affiliates in 40 states. The mission is to be faithful stewards of Creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. This campaign intends to protect the earth’s ecosystems, safeguard the health of all Creation, and ensure sufficient, sustainable energy for all.

Interfaith Organizations Protest the President’s Executive Order on Coal and Environmental Rollbacks

SAN FRANCISCO and CHICAGO (March 30, 2017) — President Donald Trump’s actions this week to reverse the steady progress being made in confronting the challenge of climate change are not only alarming and dangerous; these actions are immoral.

“Religious and spiritual communities and people of conscience across the earth must commit themselves to work together to stand against the President’s irresponsible and unethical actions…actions that threaten human beings everywhere, that endanger living beings across the globe, that put the earth at peril,” argues Dr. Larry Greenfield, Executive Director of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Based on a flawed understanding of both economics and science, the President’s action compromises Americans health and safety, damages our economy in both the short and long term, and undermines our children’s future wellbeing and security.

The Executive Order blatantly and callously plays on real fears and economic pain while it puts the benefit of a few of the richest Americans ahead of the needs and rights of the vast majority and offers no real solutions or help to those in economic distress. Its purported “benefits” are ephemeral, exaggerated or nonexistent.

The Clean Power Plan that the President wants to reverse and rollback has important provisions to move the United States toward reliable, affordable and renewable energy and energy efficiency, while preventing as many as 3,000 premature deaths and almost 100,000 asthma attacks per year by 2030. The CPP is helping to bring the benefits of clean energy, like good jobs and lower energy bills to consumers in every community. This carefully crafted plan, which is now in jeopardy, had the input of millions of Americans through the public comment process, and it has support from industry leaders.

The other elements of the President’s Executive Order are as pernicious as dismantling the Clean Power Plan. The sweeping order attempts to undo methane standards for oil and gas operations, stop federal agencies from considering the imminent and demonstrable impact of climate change in their decisions, and opens up federal lands for coal mining and fracking.

The cumulative impact of this Executive Order will harm the economy, reduce jobs, endanger the health and safety of communities, take decision-making away from states and communities, and lead to wasteful spending of federal funds, internationally and domestically.

Its promises are false, but the damage it will cause will be very real.

This issue goes to the heart of our spiritual values and our call to promote justice, protect life, and to be good stewards of Creation. Over the past decade, important progress has been made: Federal actions have helped curb pollution from power plants, raised mileage standards and made our cars more fuel efficient and helped communities avoid impacts of climate change. We have much more to do, and we should be building on our progress, not rolling them back.

Global warming threatens the Earth and disproportionately harms the most vulnerable among us. That’s why climate change is a common factor in all environmental justice issues, and an urgent priority for people of faith. Although it affects everyone, poor and vulnerable communities that contributed least to creating this problem bear the brunt of its impacts. From devastating drought in sub-Saharan Africa to powerful storms that wipe out coastal communities, to deadly air pollution, it’s the poor who suffer “first and worst.”

Faith communities will fight these reactionary measures every step of the way. We will use energy efficiently, install renewable energy on our facilities, and build climate resilient communities. We will support those most in need and those who bear the brunt of climate impacts, and encourage and help those most responsible for climate change to increase their efforts.

The choices we make today will shape the world in which our children will live. We have a responsibility to ensure that those choices are guided by our values as people of faith.

The Reverend Canon Sally Bingham, President of Interfaith Power & Light concludes, “This executive order is shocking to anyone who cares about future generations and the right to breathe clean air. We have struggled for many years to secure a healthy and safe future for our children and grandchildren by responding to the urgent threat of climate change. For anyone who believes in God and believes that God put us here to look after the garden, stewarding Creation is a moral imperative. All of the world’s great religions teach that caring for our Earth is a responsibility, and that we must serve the poor and vulnerable. It is a sin to knowingly harm Creation and endanger our air and water. Is this what our president intends to do— sin against God? This is a shameful day in our country’s history.”

The Parliament of the World’s Religions cultivates harmony among the world’s spiritual traditions and fosters their engagement with guiding institutions in order to achieve a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Its origins are rooted to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where the historic first convening of the World Parliament of Religions created a global platform for engagement of religions of the east and west. Headquartered in Chicago, Il, USA, the Parliament of the World’s Religions is an international 501c3 NGO affiliated to the United Nations Department of Public Information. The Parliament hosts the world’s premier interfaith convening in cities across the globe. Past Parliaments have convened nearly 50,000 people across the world in Chicago, IL, USA; Cape Town, South Africa; Barcelona, Spain; Melbourne, Australia; and Salt Lake City, USA. The host city and dates of the forthcoming 7th convening of the Parliament of the World’s Religions to be held in 2018 are soon to be announced.

Larry Greenfield is the Executive Director of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. He was recently executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago, a regional judicatory of the American Baptist Churches U.S.A, and the theologian-in-residence for the Community Renewal Society, a progressive, faith-based organization in Chicago that works to eliminate race and class barriers and advocates for social and economic justice. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he subsequently taught and served as dean of students. Later he served as president of Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York.

The mission of Interfaith Power & Light is to be faithful stewards of Creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. This campaign intends to protect the earth’s ecosystems, safeguard the health of all Creation, and ensure sufficient, sustainable energy for all. IPL has been helping congregations address global warming by being better stewards of energy. The campaign has a track record of tangible results: shrinking carbon footprints and educating hundreds of thousands of people in the pews about the important role of people of faith in addressing this most challenging issue. Interfaith Power & Light effort began in 1998 with Episcopal Power & Light and the support of Grace Cathedral as a unique coalition of Episcopal churches aggregated to purchase renewable energy. In 2000, this Episcopal effort broadened its focus, brought in other faith partners, and California Interfaith Power & Lightwas born. California IPL developed a successful organizational model that engaged hundreds of congregations, educated thousands of people of faith about the moral and ethical mandate to address global warming, and helped pass California’s landmark climate and clean energy laws. Building on California’s success, this model has now been adopted by 40 state affiliates, and we are working to establish Interfaith Power & Light programs in every state.

The Reverend Canon Sally Grover Bingham, an Episcopal priest and Canon for the Environment in the Diocese of California, was one of the first faith leaders to fully recognize the changing climate as a moral issue. She is founder and president of The Regeneration Project and its Interfaith Power & Light campaign, which currently has 18,000 congregation members in forty states. Rev. Bingham serves on the national board of the Environmental Defense Fund, and the advisory board of both the Union of Concerned Scientists and Climate One. She has received many awards including in 2012, the Rachel Carson Women in Conservation Award from the Audubon Society and the Life Time Achievement Award from the Festival of Faiths and in 2014, the Bishop of California Green Cross Award. Rev. Bingham is the lead author of Love God Heal Earth, a collection of 21 essays on environmental stewardship by religious leaders, published by St. Lynn’s Press.